Author Notes: My friend Sara is a great cook, and she's forever amazing me with her deftness at making something transcendent out of a few simple ingredients. She doesn't tend to favor elaborate, cloying desserts -- more than once she's ended a dinner party with a plate of her homemade "granola bars." They're chewy and rich, a jumble of nuts, cereal, seeds and dried fruit barely held together with almond butter and honey (no baking involved). She's not shy with the salt, which I think really sets these bars apart. Last week, she shared the recipe with me, and now I'm sharing it with you. These are great to have around, as a dessert or a snack. - Merrill Stubbs

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Toast the oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, pumpkin seeds. (Sara recommends toasting them all separately because of different burn rates -- I found that the pumpkin seeds took the least amount of time, at 7 minutes, and the sunflower seeds the most, at about 15 minutes.)

When all the items are sufficiently toasted, toss them with the brown rice crispies, sliced apricot and cranberries in a large bowl.

In a small saucepan, heat the almond butter and honey just to get melty, not cooked. (This is your glue and if it boils or even comes close, it gets hard and yucky.) Stir in the salt and cinnamon, then pour over the oat and nut mixture and stir. You want to get everything incorporated and 'glued' together without crushing the tender crispies.

Turn into a 9x13 baking dish lined with parchment and press the mixture evenly and firmly -- again, try not crush the crispies too much. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours. Cut into 2-inch squares before serving.

WOW. These are incredible. Will be making these forever. They are a bit sweet for me though, so I think I will substitute some of the honey for some coconut oil. I know it will alter the flavor, but I am hoping in a good way.

Made these over the weekend. Deliciously addictive! Because of allergies in the house, I made some substitutions: soynut butter for almond butter, more seeds and fruit to compensate for the almonds. Since I didn't have honey, I used 1/2 cup brown rice syrup and 1/2 cup date syrup. And since I love dates with cardamom, I used 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp ground cardamom. Such a great master recipe. Thanks, Merrill!

I cut back to 2 tsp of salt but it was still too salty, so next time I will use just one. I have substituted 1/2 the nut butter with coconut butter or coconut manna and it is delicious! Also maple syrup or agave for 1/2 the honey. I press them into a jelly roll pan so they are thinner and easier to cut. Using them for healthy munchies in our upcoming wedding welcome bags.

I think I've finally found the quintessential granola bar! I added large flaked coconut & toasted flax seeds to mine. I cut back the cinnamon to 1 t. & added 1 t. vanilla. I was low on honey so used 1/4 brown rice syrup.

I made these exactly as the recipes states. They are very good, but a bit too salty. I used 1 tablespoon FINE sea salt. Would it have been better with COARSE sea salt? The almond butter I used was also salted. Besides making them with less salt next time, are there any other suggestions?

These are the best bars ever - and I agree, the salt adds an extra "hhmmph" factor. My first batch (a huge one by the way) was with puffed quinoa instead of rice crispies, cashew nuts, peanuts, pistachios, dried banana, dried mango and cranberry - the cement was peanut butter + a little tahini + a mix of honey/maple syrup/rice syrup. Everything went perfectly, from toasting to binding to fridge and cut. Next time, I might stick to less exotic dried fruits as I thought they didn't fit perfectly in. Also I kept the bars in the fridge all the time, so no crumbling at all and my boyfriend even said they were getting better with time. Now I just want to do them again and experiment with nuts and such... Thank you very much for this great & easy recipe !

You can actually make your own Tahini Paste, it's rather easy. Here is a good recipe:

Use is 1 cup sesame seeds to anywhere from 2 tablespoons of olive oil to 1/2 cup depending on how thick or thin you want it. 1 cup sesame seeds makes about 2/3 of a cup of Tahini, depending on how much olive oil is used.

Lightly toast the sesame seeds over low heat about ten minutes, stirring often, don’t worry about getting a lot of color on them, like you would if toasting nuts. They’re fragile and burn easily, so watch them carefully.

Allow to cool off and then add them to the bowl of a food processor along with a 2 tablespoons of oil to start. You can also use a mortar and pestle.

Pulse until a paste forms, scraping down sides as needed and adding more olive oil to reach a consistency you like.

I finally made these and they are so delicious. I cut the salt in half, but could have increased it with no problem - I guess it depends on the salt. I had no almond butter, so subbed tahini, and they taste a bit like halvah. These will be on regular rotation from now on.

These granola bars are great! I toasted everything over the stove instead of in the oven, so it was easier to keep an eye on everything. I did decrease salt to 2 tsp, which I found sufficient. I don't like super sweet things, but I didn't find these too sweet at all. My coworkers gobbled them down!

These are very tasty, although I found them rather sweet for my taste. I also had some trouble with them staying together (I used 1/3 Rice Krispies, 2/3 brown rice puffs). I might try to use less honey somehow (while still binding them together) for my next batch.

About the refrigeration issue: it states to refrigerate for several hours to cool them down and help them set. They do not need to be stored in the refrigerator, only a sealed container on the counter is fine. They easily keep for a week on the counter in my experience. In regards to the salt issue, I'd add half, then taste and keep adding until it seems right to you. Depending on the type of salt, one tablespoon can be fine or seem too salty. One tablespoon of sea salt has worked great for me, but one tablespoon of kosher salt is a bit too much. These are really great granola bars and lend themselves well to substitutions.

Also if using Puffed rice, the almond butter and honey ratio is simply not enough to actually bind the ingredients together. It was fine when using rice crispies, but when tried with puffed rice I was left with a crumbly mess. At least it was a delicious crumbly mess. I'll save it by throwing it on some ice scream perhaps.

I got your recipe for Granola Bars with Almonds, Chocolate and Dried Cranberries from USA Weekend. I'm wondering if you have any suggestions for how to make them not stick in the pan. I tried using greased tin foil but the bars just stuck to the foil. I tried spraying my glass baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and had to chisel the bars out with a knife & a fork :(
Please let me know if you have any suggestions.
Thanks,
Chazlyn Robbins